Bank of England.....my arse !!

[BrianW]

The alternative to raising interest rates would be to increase taxes. In many ways, that would be fairer. However, it would also be incredibly unpopular, not least among the 'comfortable' and those better off than that.

So governments tend to go with interest rates, which tend to fly under the radar in a way that tax rises do not. The other 'advantage' is they don't touch people without mortgages, people without debt and wealthy people in general. These groups are suitably grateful, especially as their savings now pay out more in interest.

 

[Kompany Car]

people without debt and wealthy people in general

The wealthy typically hold debt, often to allow them to maintain liquidity in their financial assets. Contrary to popular belief the super rich dont go and put down 10m on a house in London, they borrow the money and find a place where they can get a better return on the 10m than what they are paying in interest, while the house also accrues value over time. Its a win win scenario for them.

Inflation in general is bad though for everyone rich or poor (noting that those who have to live off credit are disproportionately affected). But if you borrow at the right time and fix the rate, inflation can effectively erode the value of the debt.

All that said, rasing taxes would be the better option as at least it could be spent supporting those in need and building much needed infrastructure, rather than banking institutions reaping the rewards by playing games with the swap rates.

 

[DTKOAG]

Something that really pissed me off with Santander..
I had a instant access saving account which i opened in September last year and to be honest it was a great rate at 5.18% variable.
Since i opened the account there has been no changes in the interest rate so why have they decided to reduce the rate to 4.18% with no interest rate cuts on the horizon ??
And people wonder how these banks make millions each year.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Something that really pissed me off with Santander..
I had a instant access saving account which i opened in September last year and to be honest it was a great rate at 5.18% variable.
Since i opened the account there has been no changes in the interest rate so why have they decided to reduce the rate to 4.18% with no interest rate cuts on the horizon ??
And people wonder how these banks make millions each year.

To be blunt, they don't really care if you're happy with your interest rate - in fact, you not being happy is kind of the point. They're balancing their assets and liabilities to ensure they're stable.

Banks try to maintain a loan-to-deposit ratio that is in line with their risk appetite. LDR too low? Not profitable and in extreme cases the bank will lose money. I know this because I worked for one which lost eye-watering amounts by being over-liquid. To resolve it they either make lending rates more competitive or savings rates less competitive so people withdraw. LDR Too high? Too much risk, if there's a liquidity event then the bank is in trouble, so they either make lending rates less competitive, or make savings rates more competitive so people deposit more. In your case, it looks like it's probably the former.

Pricing in this way is a pretty scientific process that is completely divorced from emotion and designed to optimise between stability and profit.

Banks are always making somebody unhappy. As the market moves, at some point they generally have to make either the lending rates or the savings rates worse. They can't offer the best rates everywhere at all times. Customers being unhappy with their interest rate is a necessary part of the system, because it's what causes them to move between providers, which improves the stability of the banking system.

 

[Magicpole]

I remember my dad explaining this to me when I asked him (when I was a kid) why the governments didn't just print more money so everyone could be rich!

He said that the amount of money in an economy is like a cake and printing more money just makes the slices smaller with the same sized cake.

I fail to see what has changed in the subsequent 30 years tbh.

He was a prophet, because every cake or chocolate bar has got smaller. And I still haven’t had my cut of all this printed money.

Cunts..

 

[Magicpole]

Something that really pissed me off with Santander..
I had a instant access saving account which i opened in September last year and to be honest it was a great rate at 5.18% variable.
Since i opened the account there has been no changes in the interest rate so why have they decided to reduce the rate to 4.18% with no interest rate cuts on the horizon ??
And people wonder how these banks make millions each year.

No, we all know. We get fleeced by the cunts too. Well I don’t, I rob them, but ordinary cunts. Taken to the fucking cleaners mate. I’m with Santander too. Not even a card for my birthday, harsh.

 

[Corky]

Something that really pissed me off with Santander..
I had a instant access saving account which i opened in September last year and to be honest it was a great rate at 5.18% variable.
Since i opened the account there has been no changes in the interest rate so why have they decided to reduce the rate to 4.18% with no interest rate cuts on the horizon ??
And people wonder how these banks make millions each year.

They gave notice on the 9th March for 20th May, gave enough tome to find the best easy access deal to move next week after my interest is paid. Will move again if that goes down.

They expected rates to go down but they didn't.

 

[city2]

People need to remember you will be paying tax for the rest of your life on everything. Unless you know ways to avoid it and hide it like the richest people do.We are the lowest of the low and that’s where they want to keep us. Just feed them crumbs whilst we get richer and fat as fuck. Greed rules the world.

 

[hcblue95]

Something that really pissed me off with Santander..
I had a instant access saving account which i opened in September last year and to be honest it was a great rate at 5.18% variable.
Since i opened the account there has been no changes in the interest rate so why have they decided to reduce the rate to 4.18% with no interest rate cuts on the horizon ??
And people wonder how these banks make millions each year.

Had the same thing. I think their wording was they were anticipating the boe rate to go down. They never anticipate it going up do they. Anyway chace are giving 5.1 so I moved into that.